T-Junction

In August I had the privilege to speak at a large youth rally called T-Junction. Youth from all over the city came to a bowling alley to bowl—as you can guess—as well as play some unique games. As you can tell by the picture it was packed; in fact, we had to bowl in groups. Unique and interesting bowling styles were the norm for the day as we had a race to see who would be the first one to hit a pin while bowling from the seated position on the floor. Another interesting method was to have your entire team line up with their legs spread and someone had to bowl the ball between all their legs and hit a pin to win a prize. Our team, had a few anxious moments as we attempted to break the high scoring mark (we’re still not sure if we did, but it lent some intensity to the game).



Following the bowling we gathered together to play a version of the old TV game Let’s Make a Deal. It was a lot of fun to see young people trade in their box for another one with worthless stuff in it as well as to see someone jump for joy as they won a great prize. I think about everyone won something; Kyle even won a yo-yo. The ultimate prize was in the left corner of the picture--a cd player and at least 6 people had it in their possession but gave it away.



After this we settled down for the challenge where I spoke on John 3:16. We had about 10 young people come forward for salvation. It was thrilling to see this but also to see other young people counseling the ones that came forward. We had a young boy who was considering Buddhism as well, so it was neat to see God challenge his heart to the truth of the Gospel message. Please pray for these young people as well as for the churches as they follow up with them.

After our time with the Lord, we piled in our cars and headed over to the stadium to see a rugby match. Now I’ve seen a few of these during our time in Fiji, but this was much more intense as I was sitting with Garth Lombard, a huge fan of one of the teams that was playing—the Lions. They had won 6 in a row and needed to win again to have any possibility of the playoffs. It was a great game in which the Lions did win and increased their chances of going on. As you can tell Garth was excited.



As you watch a game that is new to you, it is always interesting to see what differences you notice. For me this time it was watching the kicking. When it come time to kick a try (see I've got the terminology down--I think), the kicker waits for this little remote-controlled truck to come out with a plastic bucket of sand in the back. The kicker dumps it on the groung to make a tee and in the case of Pretorius for the Lions, he makes a line on the ground to show him the path in which to kick the ball. Here is a picture of that action.



One of the great things was to go down on the field afterwards and meet the players; Kyle had his picture taken with several—one of which is a believer with a good testimony. Here is a picture with Andres Pretorius—who plays on the national team, the Springboks, and is an excellent player. He infuses a lot of energy when he plays and is a great kicker. Again, Kyle and I were exposed to some new and exciting events and we praise the Lord for the opportunity. Maybe even someday we’ll become diehard rugby fans.